Erasure
by A Paper Flower
Summary: "I never thought it'd end like this." Shiki's POV. Post-game. NeShiki somewhat.


**Disclaimer: I don't own The World Ends With You!**

* * *

**Erasure**

I never thought it'd end like this.

A few years after the Game, something changed. The atmosphere of Shibuya, even Tokyo itself, became darker.

People started disappearing.

It started when a girl from my university class, Amaya, never showed up to school for an entire week. She was one, like myself, to never miss a day if she had to. The teachers tried to contact her family, but no one answered.

A sudden move to a different part of Japan?

That's what we thought...and wish it was.

That's when more students started disappearing. Rumors were spread around. All of them moving? Not possible. Serial killer? Not likely, but the most sound option. But where were the bodies? They just seemed to vanish.

Along with this, we noticed that we had not heard from Joshua in a while. It took a couple months, but Joshua finally came around and started meeting with us. He suddenly stopped, though, a few weeks ago. And WildKat was closed down.

It started making sense when Ai and Mina came up to us one day, panicked and sweating. They stated they were being attacked by these invisible creatures. Ai told us that they had seen these weird markings on the side of a building, then started getting attacked.

It clicked. Strange symbols, random attacks.

Noise.

But that's impossible! Noise don't attack normal humans, and even what Neku described as the Taboo Noise only attack Players and Reapers.

Minamimoto was gone, and his Taboo Noise with him, right?

We spent hours trying to figure this out. But, that all came to a halt when Eri disappeared.

My best friend, the girl I once was envious of but cared for more than anyone could imagine, had disappeared.

It had taken me a while to focus, but the pain soon dimmed a little. At least Neku, Beat, and Rhyme were there for me to lean on.

We weren't sure what was happening. Had someone overthrown the Composer? Was there a rogue Reaper who was more powerful than it seemed? How was he able to get the Noise to have physical effects on those in the RG? Why were people being erased?!

People were moving away from the popular shopping district of Shibuya. Those who stayed behind were the brave, or idiotic, ones.

We've gone through something like this before, right? Even though we didn't have any psychs or pins to use, it should be enough.

But it _wasn't._

And I regret ever sending Rhyme to check WildKat again. She didn't come back for a long time, so Beat went to check on her.

They both never returned.

All we saw when we went to try to locate them, all we found was a bell pendant...and a skateboard.

Neku and I were left, along with the few people who had not abandoned Shibuya during this happening.

The symbols were popping up everywhere. The New Taboos, as Neku called them one day. Shibuya, what was once a lively shopping district, became a ghost town. Only the silence and the strange symbols showed that anything wrong had ever happened.

There was no Rhyme.

No Beat, and Eri, and any other classmates that we had come to know.

No Joshua or Mr. H.

No Eri.

Only us.

And it was scarier that it seemed.

* * *

"Neku..." I whispered, nudging the young man sleeping beside me. Don't worry, we hadn't done anything carnal..._recently._

"Neku! Wake up!" I whisper-screamed. He shot up, his eyes wide as he gazed at me.

"Shiki?! What's wrong?" he asked, now alert. I shivered.

"I heard screaming outside..." Crawling out of my bed, I grabbed Mr. Mew while putting on my glasses. Neku joined me as we rushed out the door. As opposed to the Neku I first met, this man is quick to help people when they need it. Over time, we had figured out where the Noise congregated to attack. Unlike the Noise we had faced in the UG, these New Taboos had to stay around the symbols of their creation. Of course, it didn't help that the symbols were everywhere.

Outside and down the street, we saw a little girl trying to avoid the invisible attacks. I went and scooped her up in my arms, running down the road to a fairly safe spot we found a few days ago. Neku followed behind us closely. I set the girl down, watching as she hyperventilated.

"It's alright...you're safe now..." I whispered, and she eventually calmed down.

"I went to find my daddy, but he's gone! And mommy was going to come pick us up! I'm scared!" she cried. I hugged her, before setting her down.

"We're gonna go find your mommy and daddy, okay? If we don't come back, continue down the street quickly until you pass the station. You should be fine then, alright?" The girl nodded her little head, giving me a description of her parents. Neku and I started quickly down the road.

If you're wondering why we were even still in the district, there's a simple explanation. We were waiting. We were waiting for the people to finally come to their senses and leave. And we were waiting for a certain ash blonde haired Composer.

"Shiki!" I heard Neku yell, and I felt something scratch me. I had wandered into an area filled with the strange symbols - the markings of the Noise.

I tried to get back to him, while he tried to get to me. But the Noise were everywhere. Or, so it felt like it. No, wait! They were everywhere!

I don't know if it was some stroke of luck, or something else, but we could suddenly see the Noise. They were large, larger than we had thought. I felt something it my pocket and pulled it out.

Déjà vu.

A Player Pin rested in my palm. Confusing much? Yeah. Maybe the RG had merged with the UG. I don't know.

I noticed another pin on Neku's grasp, and that Mr. Mew was sort of squirming in my grip.

We could fight.

And that's what we did.

"Go Mr. Mew!"

The words came naturally as I launched him forward, happy to finally be able to defeat these things.

Neku and I fought side by side, relying on each others strengths. That's what we did for the next half hour.

Our endurance was waning, and he got caught off guard, being knocked harshly to the ground.

"Neku!" I yelled, distracted now. I felt the presence behind me too late as a much larger Noise raised it's tattooed paw to swipe at me. My eyes closed quickly.

I didn't feel the quick stab of pain that I thought I would. In that spot I felt something warm embrace embrace me for a few moments.

A silent cry of pain.

Then, I didn't feel the warmth anymore.

Wait...

No.

_NO!_

My eyes shot open.

_"NEKU!"_ I screamed, looking around for his noticeable orange hair. Only his headphones, the ones he had started wearing around his neck when this all started, remained.

Tears filled my eyes as I ran, noticing that two people were running ahead of me. The last people in town. The girl's parents.

We all made it back to where the little girl was. I made sure they safely got out of Shibuya, and made to follow them.

I put a hand to the headphones I had around my neck.

Then, I was attacked again.

I didn't have the will to fight back. Mr. Mew dropped from my grasp as I saw the girl's family watching me in horror.

Soon, that dissolved into darkness.

_'See you soon, Neku...'_

* * *

_Tokyo News - updated yesterday_

**_District Ravaged and Abandoned_**

_The popular shopping district of Shibuya has been turned into a ghost town. In the past few weeks, many of those living in or near the area relocated, claiming supernatural causes to be the disturbance. Those still residing in the town seem to have vanished, reporters say. _

_One family managed to stay in the town, but fled when they needed to. Their wounds have been treated, but with them, they brought another person. _

_The girl is in critical condition, being treated in an undisclosed hospital. _

_"She saved my little girl," the father of the family stated, "So, we had to return the favor."_

_The girl's diary, which she had stored away in a bag she appeared to have been carrying, has given detectives a little more information pertaining to this mystery. As of now, not much is known of the strange symbols surrounding the area. _

_If anyone has any information about these symbols or this incident, please contact Mika Suzuki immediately. _

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**So kinda experimented with first person writing. I blame this story on the Within Temptation songs I've been listening to all day. I was actually debating doing something else as an experimental fic with Joshua and Rhyme, but I decided nah... **

**This is kinda vague, so if you're wondering just what the heck was going on, congratulations! You're wondering the same thing I am!**

**This was originally named "Death Before My Eyes". If anyone can guess what song it's from (not a WT song) then you get a digital pie! **

**Leave a review if you can!**


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